Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Dec 1995

Vol. 459 No. 6

Written Answers. - Visiting Teacher Service.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

117 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that children with learning difficulties, most of whom suffer from Down's Syndrome, who are receiving their education in mainstream national schools in Dublin north-east city and county are only receiving the visiting teacher service for one hour per week due to pressure of time; if she would agree that this is totally inadequate; and the steps, if any she intends to take to improve the situation. [18452/95]

Minister for Education (Ms Bhreathnach)

The amount of tuition time given by the visiting teacher to each individual child is dependent upon the needs of the particular child and the visiting teacher's case load.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department is in the process of appointing an additional visiting teacher for the Dublin area. This will bring to 38 the total number of visiting teachers catering for children with special needs; 14 of these teachers cater for children in Dublin and surrounding areas.

The visiting teacher service is just one of the support services available for pupils with special needs. Pupils with learning difficulties are also supported by the remedial and resource teacher services.

Earlier this year, as part of my Department's on-going response to the need for additional support teachers, I allocated a further 10 resource teacher posts to the primary sector with effect from September, 1995. This brings the total number of such posts in place to 36. Two of these resource teachers cater for the needs of children with learning difficulties on the north side of Dublin.

This allocation is in addition to the 55 remedial teacher posts allocated for the 1995-96 school year. There are now 1,188 remedial teacher posts in the primary sector, of which 368 are located in Dublin.

The report of the special education review committee made a number of recommendations concerning additional teacher resources in order to assist children with special needs who attend ordinary primary schools. My Department is pursuing implementation of these recommendations as resources permit.